My A-ha Moment at Hong Kong International Airport

My plane arrived landed in Hong Kong at about 11 pm, Jan 22. I was flying back to Los Angeles after a month long break in Cebu. The flight was pretty comfortable, although I did not sleep. It was 2 ½ hours long and I got to watch about three episodes of Angels in America. 

Upon disembarkation from the plane, I was met by a woman with a sign that read: “Flight CX880 Los Angeles.” She was gathering people rush to the departure gate, our flight was 40 minutes delayed and the LA-bound plane was waiting for us. So I hurriedly followed the woman in fear of missing my flight.

All of us passengers rushed across the huge Hong Kong International Airport to get to gate 3. When we got to the gate, I had my bag inspected and promptly presented my boarding pass and passport. The lady had to look twice and tell me: “Sir this isn’t your flight.”

In a swirl of confusion, I looked at my boarding pass and saw: Los Angeles...CX 884...13:05....Jan 23...

January 23^rd, the following day... A-ha.

And so I had to stay about another 13 hours at the airport! My first reaction? Well, first I was perplexed how I overlooked such an important detail.  My second thought?  I wouldn’t make a very good accountant. In the end, however, it all worked out. Soon after, I found the HK Airport traveler’s lounge and slept for about 8 hours. The following day, I wrote this entry and roamed around my temporary home. It was a really interesting experience. I felt like Tom Hanks in his film “The Terminal”, only without Catherine Zeta Jones. 

 

International Traveler's Lounge

But seriously, what I enjoyed most about this experience was being surrounded by so many different kinds people from all over the world: Chinese, Russians, Germans, Americans, Australians, Indians, Filipinos, British, the list goes on.  I like the idea of growing up in an international culture. I think that if more people grew up in such an environment, many incidents of violence and discrimination could have been prevented. At this moment of my life, I don’t really like Nationality as much as I like Internationality. Striving for internationality, we learn the habit of being open to other ways of life. This openness for other cultures translates to an open-mindedness for life in general.

Cloudy Hong Kong skyline view from Gate 4

Anyway, enough of that, now back to my learning. I learned that I shouldn’t be too quick to assume things. Just because I had a connecting flight to Los Angeles, didn’t mean it had to be the first flight out of Hong Kong. Just because one is frustrated, doesn’t mean the first opportunity to quit is the right one. Just because someone (even with authority) tells you what to do, doesn’t mean that that is the right thing to do. 

 This I learned from my A-ha moment at the Hong Kong International Airport.